To Whom it May Concern

Over 85 per cent of utilities have failed to develop a clear strategy on how they communicate with their customers in writing. It is true that telephone skills and technology are fundamental to good customer care, but a truly customer-orientated approach must be reflected in letters, emails, bills, statements, and terms and conditions too. After all, there is no point in claiming to be customer focused and then sending out bills that are indecipherable, emails that fail to respond to the customer's query, or letters that are long-winded and evasive.

Bad writing is not only confusing and annoying for customers, but expensive for utilities. The first thing a customer who is baffled or irritated by a poorly written letter or bill will do is pick up the telephone to the call centre, costing the company unnecessary time and money. And, at worst, the customer may delay or refuse payment of their bill. They may well vow never to deal with the company in question again - and tell anyone else who will listen. All this can be avoided if utility documents are clear and to the point in the first place. So what irritates customers most about the written communication they receive from utilities? Here's a top ten list of what gets a customer's goat:

1/ Mistakes in personal details: The industry is rife with stories about incorrect personal details: misspelt names, wrong gender, lines missing from the address etc. Some customers have also complained that their utilities suppliers persist in addressing customer bills and information to 'The occupant'. This is, in many cases, despite the customer making telephone calls and sending letters advising the suppliers of their correct personal details.

2/ Officious jargon and customer service clichés: Customers don't want to be confronted with lots of 'utility-speak' or customer-service clichés. Even seemingly inoffensive clichés such as 'we value our customers' and 'customer care is our priority' are unlikely to win over a customer who has received shockingly poor service. Customers want plain, down-to-earth language that explains things quickly and efficiently. And that applies to terms and conditions too.

3/ Inappropriate tone: This can range from the ludicrously formal to the inappropriately dismissive. Generally speaking, a personalised, 'human' tone is always going to go down better with customers than an officious or bureaucratic one. Similarly, a patronising tone is usually guaranteed to cause offence. Take a recent letter from a water company to a customer who had been given contradictory advice about her account and bill, leaving her £260.66 out of pocket. After several hours on the telephone and writing letters to resolve the problem, the company responded with a letter that signed off: 'Regrettably it appears the information provided to you on both these occasions was inaccurate and may have caused you undue confusion.' '...may have caused undue confusion.' Of course it caused confusion; it was wrong! And an apology wouldn't go amiss either.

4/ Too much waffle: Customers have busy lives. It goes without saying that they resent waiting endlessly on the telephone and having to decipher which 'option' to go for. But they also begrudge utilities companies forcing them to read lengthy letters that take too long to get to the point and don't convey any clear or conclusive message. This tendency to waffle and embellish may stem from a fear that getting to the point quickly might sound rude. But it is possible to be brief and succinct without being abrupt.

5/ Never-ending sentences: This sentence is from a recent letter by a water company to a construction firm: 'It was noted at the pre-construction meeting that you required construction works to commence as soon as possible, however it was confirmed at the meeting that we would not be able to start until sometime after the new year and it was also identified at the meeting there could be a requirement for a section 50 license to cover the mains connection work and it was agreed Mr X (Company A) would confirm the ownership of the affected land before any application was made.' It leaves the customer gasping for breath. And they probably had to read the sentence several times to understand all the different information it contains. At the very least, some commas would help. But it would be much clearer written as two or three separate sentences.

6/ Not saying sorry: Some utilities companies seem to have a 'never apologise' policy. Even if the problem is not the company's fault, something like: 'I'm sorry to hear that you're not satisfied with our service' is at least conciliatory, without involving the company accepting any liability.

7/ Irrelevant content: Some letters responding to a customer complaint have a long, and often defensive, preamble. A couple of sentences to show understanding and empathy are enough. What customers really want to know is what their utility provider is going to do about the problem - and when.

8/ Poor structure: This is another common problem. Letters can be quite complex, making it difficult for customers to digest all the information they are being given. It is much clearer and easier for them to read when the letter is broken down into separate sections with a heading to signpost what the section is about.

9/ Formulaic and impersonal introduction: Many customer services letters begin with 'In response to...' This is not very customer friendly. 'I am sorry that...' or 'I was concerned to learn that...' is a lot more personal. Or if neither of these are appropriate, at least say 'Thank you for your letter...'

10/ No contact details: One consumer watchdog website contains several complaints about letters received from utilities companies signed by the 'billing manager', but with no name, address, telephone number or any other contact details. This leaves the customer powerless to respond to or follow up the letter in any way. Always include personal contact details, even if it is only an email address.

If all else fails, customer services staff could save themselves a lot of time - and the companies they work for a lot of money - by asking themselves two simple questions before they write anything at all: 'What does the customer need to know?' and 'What will make the customer happy?'

The first utility to adopt writing policies based on these ten basic tenets may or may not receive plaudits for its efforts. But it would certainly gain a significant edge on many of its rivals.

Jo-rosie is a proffessional journalist representing Emphasis Training, the name behind some of the best business writing skills in the UK. As the country's leading business-writing consultancy, we've helped hundreds of its most successful organisations to gain maximum impact from their written communications, through bespoke, in-house training, open (public) courses and business-writing consultancy

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jo-Ro_Haffenden
http://EzineArticles.com/?To-Whom-it-May-Concern&id=1443243